Compare And Contrast African American Imperialism Dbq

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After the Civil War, the second Industrial Revolution swept the US and the country began to flourish. Baring the economic prosperity, many Americans grew the urge to expand overseas. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, foreign policy was the hot topic among citizens and government officials. There were two sides to the argument; some Americans pushed for the aggressive foreign policy while others favored for the US to keep their nose out of foreign affairs. Notable figures in government took bold stands for and against foreign affairs. Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley believed in imperialism, and that the booming US should spread their prosperity to other nations and territories while William Jennings Bryan and Mark …show more content…

In many honest opinions, the war did not necessarily need America to get involved. Although, yellow journalism at the time and the supposed attack on a US ship were rising actions to America intervening. Once America entered the war, there was no turning back. Questions and concerns arose quickly amongst US citizens and officials on the future of the new colonies. Some Americans wanted to fight the war to lead change domestically; African Americans in particular. Blacks such as E. E. Cooper advocated for the war because black participation in the war would bring about an era of good feeling throughout the country and form a more compact bond between all races (Doc. 1). Others, too, supported the war because of the strong belief that other nations could bloom under American assistance. For instance, Theodore Roosevelt, who was a strong imperialist supported the war and imperialistic ideals. Roosevelt most willingly criticized anyone against the annexation of the Philippines. He thought that people of the Philippines were “utterly unfit for self government,” and the only way they would have ever been saved is if America parented them and helped them gain prosperity (Doc. 5). After Roosevelt’s election to office of the president, he held his ideas of a strong foreign policy true by advocating for his “Big Stick” policy. This carried the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine which stated that the US could and should intervene in foreign affairs whenever its interest were threatened. Additionally, Roosevelt was not the lone president supporting imperialism; William Jennings Bryan also supported imperialism. Bryan, in fact, was the president who annexed the Philippines. Bryan thought that the Philippines needed America to aid in their road to civilization because they could not govern themselves (Doc. 3).Therefore, imperialism was pushed for by many Americans in a hope to spread US